I’d been dragging my camera around all day, taking mediocre pictures in mid day. Exhausted, I sat down on the bench at a bus stop and waited. When I looked up I noticed the beautiful lights of Mandalay Bay sparkling against a beautiful blue sky as the sun set. I took this picture at 1/6 sec. ISO 2000 and f/8. I also took this picture handheld, since I had no tripod with me. It’s slightly blurry, but overall I’m pleased with how it turned out. 🙂

Lucy and I met through a local theatre production where she played the lead female role brilliantly! I was very honored when she asked me to photograph her wedding.

Lucy and her husband Peter were married in a beautiful Catholic church. January 2013.

Although I had photographed many weddings as a freelancer, this was only my second time photographing a wedding as “AV Images”, so I wanted to make sure I did a great job!

After a couple of thorough photography lessons, I dragged my husband along as a second photographer and he did a fantastic job. This picture above is one of my favorite shots of the day, many thanks to my multi-talented husband!

At the reception, Lucy and Peter gave the guests adorable jars of honey, made right in their backyard!

After taking a few shots near this beautiful fireplace, we had just enough time to take a few shots outside at dusk!

I was very excited to shoot these senior pictures as it was my first time photographing a senior session since I’ve started my own business. My husband and I got our engagement pictures taken at Kensington Park, and I’ve wanted … Continue reading →

I was especially looking forward to photographing Heather and David’s wedding. Often times, there isnt alot of leeway when taking photographs in traditional churches. They tied the knot at Glen Gables Wedding Chapel & Banquet Hall, which allowed alot of time for pictures and great leeway inside the chapel for better shots.

Hey guys,
My husband needed some updated head shots taken today. So I ripped a large piece off of my paper seamless backdrop roll and taped it to the wall since my backdrop stand broke a while back.
Anyway, after I tore it down, I had a little fun 🙂

Right before the holidays I had the privilege to photograph a subject using low key lighting techniques. She approached me with an interest in taking a photo “with alot of shadows” to disguise her more unflattering areas. I was eager to do this, since it would be my first time experimenting with low key lighting. All of the research I did on how to shoot a low key image used the shadows for an artsy effect, instead of for a practical purpose. (such as hiding unflattering areas). After doing much research, I was fairly confident that I could use this same technique on my subject to give her what she wanted. (however, just to be sure I tested different lighting techniques on my husband for hours the day before)!

My subject wanted to shoot on a Saturday at 10am. I use a personal training facility with huge windows, and there was much daylight spilling in through the windows at that time.

A stock image of the personal training studio I use on a bright day.

Had I not done my research, this would have posed a huge problem for me. Yet I was able to expose with the natural light, and incorporate strobes to only highlight the areas I wanted.

Im not a fan of the “floating head effect” which often accompanies low key images when subjects wear dark shirts. So I added a hair light which spilled onto her shoulders as well. I would have liked a little more light on her shoulders to separate her from the background. I’ll have to improve on that next time.

Your eye is drawn to the brightest parts of the picture. Distracting from her neck/chin area, and from the shoulders down. It was tricky to use harsh shadows because she wanted her face well lit.

This was my first experience shooting a subject using low key lighting techniques. Id like to improve on a few areas, but overall, myself and my subject were both very satisfied with the outcome.

If you’d like to know how I was able to achieve this lighting technique in such a bright room, please subscribe to my blog and comment with your email address. I’ll send you an email. Thanks for reading!